Supernatural Powers
History Anecdotal evidence of supernatural activities by humans exist all over recorded history. Only after the first contact with the Youh'Kai and the emergence of the Imperial Church, those abilities have been scientifically researched and properly recorded. While priests working miracles have always enjoyed a cautiously admired status, psions for most of human history have been met with superstition and fear. Before the Second Succession War, the possession of psychic powers was considered a mortal sin by the Imperial Church and psions were hunted down and killed. Only with the parallel emergence of Temple Aroona and the Psions' Guild during SW II, this stigma has been lifted. Yet even today, many of the old superstitions are still wide-spread and most psions prefer to have little contact with the ‘normal’ population. But the Psions’ Guild and the ParaMag faculty of the University of Malicorn lately have made great progress in understanding and thus de-mystifying supernatural abilities and are working hard on gathering further knowledge. Terms As the names and expressions for anything concerning the supernatural are deeply coloured by history and culture all over the Empire, I will define a handful of ‘neutral’ terms for use in this paper. Depending on cultural background and education, almost every citizen of the empire will use different names even if they denote the same general concepts. *caster - the person with supernatural abilities (the priest, psychic, sorcerer, shaman, ...) *effect - one supernatural thing he does (the fireball, the spell, his power, …) *energy - what the caster uses to create the effect (mana, chi, grace, concentration, …) *expression - how the caster works his effects - both in terms of theme (fire manipulation, ice manipulation, healing, etc.) and style (hurling flames from his fingertips, raining fire from heaven, turning non-flammable substances flammable) *paradigm - what the caster believes to be right and possible, having a great impact on his expression (what he can do) and especially his weaknesses (what he can’t do) Basic distinctions The most important distinction of supernatural abilities is the one between Miracles (or more correctly Theurgy) and Psionics. Despite the ancient debate about the philosophical differences between them (ie god-given vs self-empowerment), the measurable, scientific distinction is in the way these two schools use energy for their effects. While psionics tap and deplete a reservoir of energy within the caster, the energy for theurgic effects comes from an outside source with the caster only acting as a conduit. Magic, on the other hand, has long been dismissed as either some expression of pagan theurgy or some oddly complicated personal expression of psionics. But with the recent increase of paranormal research, magic has emerged as a rare but fully viable third way of bending the rules. Once again apart from the philosophical discussions, magic is defined as the use of passive ambient energy, shaped into effects by the actions of the caster. Paths and characters If talking in very broad strokes, there are indeed unifying and dividing character traits among the three paths. This is only noticeable among the more powerful members of each group, and cliché in many ways, but a workable simplification none the less. Psions and Mages tend to be very self-aware and self-reliant. Psions especially tend to be rather self-confident, as well. None of these traits is easily combined with the necessary 'selflessness' and belief and trust in the power and assistance from another, metaphysical being that is apparently prerequisite for becoming a theurge. Also, Psions tend to be more passionate and impulsive, whereas mages tend to be more analytical and patient. Occurency Theurgy and psionics have been recorded from all sentient races, with occasional cultural biases towards one or the other. The Youh’Kai are the only known race where supernatural abilities are the norm rather than the exception, with almost every member of the race exhibiting at least some form of psionic abilities, mostly sensory or physical improvements. Humans show theurgy about as often as any other race. The percentage of psychics among humanity was unremarkable historically, but lately an above average number of psychics have been born. Magic in humans is extremely rare, but still significantly more numerous than in any other known race except demons. Many demons seem to be practitioners of magic, but until the church investigations are over, there is no reliable information on the subject yet. Current estimates assume that one human in 5 million will have the potential to be a psychic or theurge, while about one in 100 million will potentially be a mage. If that potential is realized depends on many factors, presumably most talented humans never awaken their supernatural potential. Ambient energy There is very little consensus on what this ambient energy actually is, but there are a handful of facts that the various schools agree upon: There is always some of it present, there is no place that has none nor could one be created so far. It is not homogeneous, there are places with more and places with less energy. It is not constant, the energy level waxes and wanes over time on any given place. Ambient energy is not chaotic, but seems to be dispersed in a pattern that is shaped by many overlapping influences. Some of these influences have already been firmly identified. For example, ambient energy is always stronger at the border or in the middle of things / places / seasons. A high density of lifeforms comes with a high level of ambient energy. Apart from this, very little is known so far, mostly due to the fact that practitioners of magic are so few, and of those only a minute fraction is willing to work with scientists to further explore the basics of their craft. Group effects Psions cannot, per se, create group effects. They can, though, stack individual effects on each other, thus greatly increasing their versatility. Also, most psions find it relatively easy to learn how to support others with their internal energy. So while it will always be one single psion casting any given effect, he could draw on the combined energy of any given number of psions. This kind of support structure also enables the psions’ guild to tackle a significant part of the empire’s transport sector. Theurgists can easily combine their efforts, and often will. Though usually one priest is the designated focus of the effect, the result will be one effect with the combined strength of all participants. Also, the strength of the effect seems to grow slightly over-proportional to the number of participants in a ritual. Mages are not know to work any effects together, but those few who have given interviews on the subject suppose it should be possible as long as the paradigms of the co-working mages match. Given the highly individualized and specialized nature of mages, this propably has just never happened before. Notable in this context, though, is the fact that mages will occasionally employ mundane aides, whose inherently mundane actions through planning and instruction by the mage will become part of the actual ritual. Other Articles on Supernatural Powers Supernatural Powers Category:Items